Testimonials

When we were looking for a preschool for our shy, yet bright, daughter, we interviewed and toured several different types of schools. Once we visited IMS, we were immediately impressed with the environment, teachers, staff, and engaged students. We noticed that IMS was unique because of its focus on cultural diversity and community. The education offered at IMS was challenging, progressive, and top-notch. After the tour, we could not justify sending our daughter anywhere else! IMS offered a learning environment for her to be challenged and nurtured. When she started at age 3, she knew her ABC's and basic shapes. Now as a 6-year-old first grader, she is reading at a 4th grade level and doing 2nd grade level math. We highly recommend IMS to any family that values education, excellence, and diversity.

- Parents: Nick Jenkins, M.D., and Sarah Jenkins, Ph.D.

When a parent thinks of characteristics he or she wants for their child, the common denominator for all of us, is how to obtain so many key elements at one place? How to nourish a young mind and what does a young person need? Individualism, education, comfort, discipline and routine, at one place...for preschool?! The answer is "Yes!" This preschool actually does exist, and nearby. The International Montessori School was recommended to me, and I am truly proud to pay it forward to others.

After the first few months of receiving a taste for learning, my kids craved a deeper hunger for all of those key elements. School breaks such as Fall, Winter and Spring were difficult for my kids. They asked everyday to return to The International Montessori School. They enjoyed learning so much, my children willing sat down and wrote notes to their teachers regarding how much they missed them over break. Now two years later, they continue to have a thirst for learning, as well as a disgruntled attitude when it comes to school breaks.

As many of us know, one of the best gifts we can give our children is an early love of learning. However, what separates this school from others is that, the International Montessori School builds on this concept even further, by giving our children a passion to strive not only for their parents but for themselves, and that type of confidence is golden.

- Parent: Lemita Steel (Two current students, ages 4 and 5)

I cannot speak highly enough of our experience at IMS. Our daughter had been in a preschool program the year prior, but the growth we witnessed academically, emotionally, and socially during her year at International Montessori was incredible. Ms. Ranee is a truly gifted educator, as are her fellow teachers. We knew we liked the Montessori model, but chose IMS after seeing how passionate Ms. Ranee is about emphasizing respect and cooperation, encouraging independence and exploration, and making her students feel loved and supported while challenging them to grow. Annemarie was always so proud of her daily 'work,' and enjoyed learning about such a variety of languages and cultures. She formed many new friendships and benefitted greatly from working cooperatively with some of the older students. The time at IMS provided a great foundation to her academic career.

- Parent: Sarah Klingler

Our child began attending International Montessori School when he was 3 years old. We were so pleased with the quality of education he received that we decided to stay there until he graduated from Kindergarten just this past year. Our child was constantly learning new things and he enjoyed very much sharing with us his new found knowledge about writing, Science, Math, countries, languages, artists, cultures, to name a few. He was never bored. We appreciate that our child was challenged and pushed to his full potential. As a result, he was reading at 4 years old and writing short stories in Kindergarten. He gained the confidence to speak before an audience at a young age and he developed socially which enabled him to help with the younger students as he advanced to the next grade. We are grateful for the professionalism, love and care exhibited by Ms. Ranee, the teachers and the staff and for the wonderful experience our family has had at IMS. We truly appreciate the solid foundation IMS has provided our child and which will follow him in the years ahead. Our child misses IMS and his teacher of 3 years with whom he developed a very close bond. Our child wishes he could have continued his studies at IMS. Without a doubt, we would have stayed past Kindergarten if the school offered instruction to older students. Thank you very much, IMS!

- Parent: Tiffany Vivo

Being at the International Montessori School for three years was an incredible experience for my son. I researched several schools, only to find that none could top IMS in the well rounded, world class education they offer for preschoolers and kindergartners. The children learned intricate details within the realms of science, history, art, music, math, and reading that I would have never imagined possible at this age. Ms. Ranee and her team gave individualized attention to my son's needs and helped him progress to a level of learning based on his readiness. This level of teaching greatly helped prepare him for his elementary years.

Beyond the typical forms of academic education, IMS provided a wealth of life education. My son found confidence through having so many "presentations" to give in front of classmates. He announced he wanted to plant an herb garden at home because he did so first at IMS. And what I loved the most is that he was exposed to varying world cultures through this program. For a child at this age to know about lifestyles and traditions in several different countries is not a normal thing, but it is par for the course at IMS.

IMS provided an amazing three years of educational, emotional, and social growth for my son. The warm and nurturing teaching staff provided him a home away from home. And most importantly, he had FUN while being there as he was truly happy and engaged while learning. I cannot recommend IMS highly enough!

- Parent: Sumi Maun

When my daughter was 3 and attending a preschool in Indianapolis, I was very happy with my experience there. However, when I learned about the International Montessori School in April of 2004 and went to visit, I was so overwhelmed by the organization of the school, its focus on academics through experiential learning, and the staff that I pulled my daughter out of her school and enrolled her that same day. Ms. Ranee, the school's founder, Principal and Directress was compassionate, caring, creative, and engaged in each and every child's education journey. She was simply the reason we moved over to IMS. As the school has grown, so have the classes and the variety of options available to the children. My daughter stayed at IMS for 3 1/2 years. She participated in a rich variety of cultural and academic experiences including Diwali (the Indian Celebration of Lights), Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chinese New Year, Persian New Year, and Hanukkah, as well as learning to read well at 4 years old. Today she in 4th grade and still draws on the lessons she learned early on at IMS from Ms. Ranee. She is an engaged learner with a natural inclination toward discovering and looking deeper into the material presented to her. I credit Ms. Ranee and IMS for my daughters love for learning and the academic excellence she is currently experiencing in her public school.

- Parent: Stephanie Boyman

This school is a hidden gem. I can't think of a better place to send my daughters. This school has amazing staff that love the children and pay attention to each child's individual needs to make them successful in life. This is the best foundation I could ask for our children's future.

The academics are second to none in all areas - reading, writing, math, science, geography, arts, critical and creating thinking, etc. The school is so nurturing and loving toward the children, and the families and staff that attend here are very close knit. These people have become our family.

The school also promotes peace, tolerance, appreciation and respect for all cultures and religions. Our girls have learned so much about all the different continents, countries, cultures and landscapes around the world. The school also promotes the arts.

The preschool and KG programs are amazing, and our kids have developed a love and curiosity for learning. I can't think of a better place to send my kids!

- Parent: Afshan Paarlberg

My child has completed 2.5 years at IMS and we are so proud of all he has achieved at this school. The school has provided a platform needed to excel inside and outside of school. My understanding is that most Montessori schools allow children to pick what they want to learn that day. This Montessori school does it a little differently. The children are allowed to pick a few activities on their own, however the students must also read, write and do math. To me, this forced my son to tackle the harder activities. Since he was encouraged to step out of his comfort zone with reading, writing and math, he has become confident in these subject area and loves these subjects that he was one scared of.

READING: the reading program has built a passion for reading in my son. He has went from scared and nervous when reading to a child who loves reading and will not put down a book!

WRITING: writing skills are developed over the three years. They have taught my son how to write letters and numbers all the way to expressing thoughts into paper in the form of paragraphs (and he is only in his second month of his Kindergarten year). His ability to write confidently comes from having been at the school for 2.5 years. I know that in this final year at IMS he will learn sentence structure and composition well beyond the 1 grade level.

MATH: my son understands the logic behind math. Math-centric learning tools (like Kumon) teach math as something you know by memory. IMS takes it a steep deeper by teaching the logic of behind mathematics. Because of this, he has become a deep thinker and problem solver.

SCIENCE: the school does a great job of educational diversity. They learn about nature, space, the humans body, and world cultures/traditions.

We love this school so much that my second child has also started at the school and we have enrolled my third child on the wait list for Fall 2017.

- Parent: Nirali Shah

I love the Montessori philosophy. When we moved to Indianapolis in 2014, we needed to find care for our, then, 2 & 4 year old kids. We liked Montessori and thought our kids would thrive with it. The problem we ran into was that most schools do not take kids under 3. We wanted our kids to be together so we did not choose the International Montessori School in 2014 (the child must be 3 & potty trained to go here). We still went to Montessori, but not this one. We were not happy with our choice. So, when our daughter turned 3, we shopped around. We found IMS, attended an open house event, and selected this school and are very happy with our choice in International Montessori School. We also found that not all Montessori schools are created equal. This one is on the top of the schools!

We love this school. What we found:

- the teachers are calm, patient, intelligent, worldly
- the teachers pay attention to each child's individual skills, talents and opportunities for improvement
- the school itself has loads of natural light coming in
- the owner has many years experience and it shows
- kids are able to attend from 3 to kindergarten
- traditions are taught about cultures all around the world (hence the "International" in the name)
- summer care is available- the Montessori concepts are still taught during the summer.

Our kids have thrived at this school. If you have a child in the 3-6 age group and are looking for care - check out the International Montessori School.

- Parent: Brian McQueen

This is the best you will find on the Northside of Indianapolis in pre-k and kindergarten education. Ms. Ranae is the heart of the school. She is the reason it is so incredible. My son learned Chinese, Spanish, and French language. He also learned to have beautiful handwriting while listening to great composers . The school has children eat on plates with table clothes all together as a community at lunchtime. The exposure to the world of great artists, musicians, as well as international dance is not something that is found anywhere else.
The cultural aspects set the mood for an amazing learning experience in an extremely loving environment. From math and science to language arts and oral presentation skills, this is an amazing start for any child. We most sincerely recommend this school.